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Heroes' Heroes: Sean Kelly, four times the Tour de France points winner, on Eddie Keher

WHEN I was growing up in Carrick-on-Suir there was almost no coverage of cycling in the Irish media — the winner of the Tour de France might have got a mention in the newspapers the following day but that was about it. I did not take up the sport until after my 15th birthday and had little interest in it before then.

Gaelic games were the focus when I was at national school and, perhaps because my mother was a Kilkenny woman, I became a fan of their teams. We would listen on the radio when they were playing in a big game, such as a Leinster final or an All-Ireland final or semi-final.

The man who stood out was Eddie Keher, who always seemed to be at the heart of the action. When I was a little older we would watch him on television. I think there have been only